NASCAR thoughts heading to Dover

Last year I wrote that Mark Martin should add Hoobastank’s “So Close, Yet So Far” to his iPod. The song’s title basically described his weekend at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway last year. Maybe Jeff Burton should do the same this year. His 2010 campaign has been chock full of chances to win, but the 42-year old Burton has yet to capitalize.

In fact, the South Boston, Va., native’s last win was in October of 2008 at Charlotte, but this season he’s had stout cars. He had a great car at California, a chance to win at Talladega, Texas, Richmond and this past race at Darlington. “We are doing the things we need to do. We are leading laps, running in the front. We’re putting ourselves in position to win,” he said. But gaffes on pit road have left the Richard Childress Racing driver wondering, ‘What if?’

Jeff Burton has yet to capitalize on some great opportunities to win this season

“We are capable of winning races and we will win races,” Burton said after the Southern 500. “We’ll get it together and we’ll go race next week.” In 32 races at Dover Burton has only collected one win and has an average finish of 16th. If he doesn’t win this weekend, Burton will need to win the Open race before the All-Star race or win a fan vote to make it into the Sprint All-Star race in Charlotte.

“I will just be honest about it, I’m embarrassed that we are not in it,” said Burton.

Smoke loses Old Spice
Tony Stewart has lost his swagger, at least the Old Spice product with that name. Old Spice, a Tony Stewart sponsor since 1999, announced on Sunday that they wouldn’t be back to sponsor Tony Stewart next season.

Mike Norton, a brand spokesman for Old Spice—a Proctor and Gamble product—says the decision was based on a change in marketing strategies, according to an AP report.

The No. 14 car at Indianapolis Motor Speedway last year carried the Old Spice brand on the hood

Old Spice’s colors will grace Stewart’s No. 14 this season 14 times. Office Depot will continue as one of Stewart’s co-sponsors.

When Jimmie wrecks, we cheer
Jeff Gluck, the NASCAR writer and Twitter extraordinaire, wrote a piece on SBNation about fans at Darlington cheering in the wake of seeing the No. 48 car in an accident. (Read Jeff’s piece here: http://www.sbnation.com/2010/5/10/1465855/jimmie-johnson-darlington-wreck-nascar-2010)

His Twitter arguments with Nate Ryan on Saturday night were almost as entertaining as the race itself, and his article is spot on. I know most NASCAR fans were relieved to see the Johnson car on a wrecker Saturday night rather than in Victory Lane—a popular spot for the Lowe’s car to show up in the past few years.

It used to be Jeff Gordon who would draw those same cheers whenever the No. 24 ended up wrecked, but lately it’s Johnson who’s drawing the ire of NASCAR fans. And after only one DNF in each of the past two seasons, this year Chad Knaus and crew have had to deal with three DNFs. Is Jimmie vulnerable? I guess we’ll find out this weekend. Johnson and the No. 48 team are typically great at Dover.

The green should drop a few minutes after 1 p.m. at the “Monster Mile” in Dover. Keep it tuned here all week for some more NASCAR news and notes as we head into Dover.